Hydraulic gold dredge



Aug. 24, 1926.

R. R. DAILEY El AL HYDRAULIC GOLD DREDGE Filed Sept. 2 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 atto'zwu,

Aug. 24,1926. 1,597,580 R. R. DAILEY ET AL HYDRAULIC GOLD DREDGE Filed Sept. 2, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l yam/6,9

, v QM M Patented Aug. 24, 1926.

UNITED STATES ROY R. BAILEY AND LEROY VORI-IIESfOF GRANITE, COLORADO. i

ninnAULIo GOLD nnnnern.

Application filed September 2, 1924.

This invention relates to an improved dredge which is especially, but not necessarily adapted for the removing of gold deposits from the bed of a stream. The invention has particular reference to a device of this class which comprises a pontoon barge which constitutes a carrier for a pump, having a gold conveyingconduit in association therewith, the lower end of the conduit being: submerged in the water and being equipped with a collecting and screen head, to be reciprocated longitudinally toward the bottom of the stream, for agitating and elevating the sand and intermingled gold, into a common sluice box, supported upon the barge.

One :feature of the invention is themovable conduit, which is equipped with especially constructed agitatingand screening devices. -Another feature of the invention is a pivotally mounted scooplwhich is supported from the conduit, and which serves to carry the undesirable coarse materials to a point of deposit.

It follows that it'is another feature of the invention to provide an endless rake structure for acting 011 and carrying the deposited coarse material to the rear end of the barge.

Other features and advantages of theinvention will become apparent as the description goes on.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a side elevation of the im proved dredging apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof, with certain details removed.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the agitating and screening head.

Figure at is an enlarged vertical section, through said head, the section being taken substantially on the plane of the line 44 of Figure 1.

deferring to the drawings in detail, the reference character 1 designates generally a suitably constructed barge, which is preferably composed of transversely spaced pontoons. Supported upon the top of the barge in an inclined position, is the gold separating or sluice box 2. Adjacent the upper end of the box and disposed in re-arwardly inclined positions on opposite sides of the box are vertical guides 3, between the upper ends of which pulley blocks 4 are slidable. Positioned between the guides 3 and extend- Serial. No. 735,359;

ing across the bottom of the box is a cross end terminating in close proximity to the bed of the screen. V It is to the lower edge of the conduit that the agitating-or screening'head 10 is coupled or other wise connected. The head comprises a. short length of pipe, which carries a slotted box-like part 11, which functrons somewhat as a shoe, thesame being dragged across the concaved bottom of the stream. The general contour of theparts 11 maybe clearly observed from Figures3 and-4.. Pivotallymounted in any suitable manner to the upper end of the -so -called head, is the scoop 12, havinga crank arm 13, to which theends 14k and 15 of the operating cable are connected. This operating cableis trainedtautly. over a series of pulleys 16, 17 and 18, suitably supported upon the barge. The pulley 17 is the driving pulley, and this is driven through the medium of gearing 19 (see Figure 2), cooperative with a motor 20. Here, we might also state, that the pump motor is designated by the reference character 21. As seen clearly in the figure under consideration, a set of conventional winch pulleys or drums 22 are supported upon one of the pontoons, and a plurality of shore lines 23 are passed over these, and cooperate with a multiplicity of smaller pulleys 2 f, mounted at appropriate points.

As before intimated, we employ an endless rake, which is designated by the reference character 25, (see Figure 1). The enclless. rake may be of any construction and may be supported in any appropriate mannor, there preferably being an adjustable suspension cable 26, used in conjunction therewith for varying its elevation.

Referring to the hoisting block 4 again, it will be seen that these carry pulleys 27, over which the ends of the hoisting cables 28 are strained, a suitable drum or Windlass structure 29 being employed for raising and lowering the blocks and in turn varying the elevation 0t thecollecting conduit 9. In actual practice, the hoisting device may be of any suitable construction, and while we have shown and described the specific embodiments, it is to be understood that it may be varied, inasmuch as it constitutes no important parts of the invention. e might add, however, that theback end of the cable passing over the windlass 29 and designated 30 is connected either to the tubing 6 or the cross head 5, for exerting a downward pull on these parts.

In the drawing, we have shown other minor details, but these constitute no important part of the invention and'need not be described in detail.

The operation is as follows:

lVhen the motors are set into operation, the centrifugal pump is operated to create suction through the tubing 6 and conduit 9. Assuming that the latter has been set at the proper elevation, by the hoistingmeans, it will be seen that the conduit will be swung longitudinally from the dotted line to the full line position in Figure 1, and then back again by the cables 1'1- and 15, driven by the operating drum or pulleys 17. As the conduit is thus moved, the'particles of sand, water, and gold, are sucked throughthe con-- duit, cross head5, tubing 6, into the pump, and then driven out through the piping to be deposited at the upper end of the separating box 2. It is in the latter that the particles of gold are separated fromthe water and sand in the customary way. It is important to note that as the conduit is moved back and forth, the box-like slotted part 11 roots into the convex bottom of the stream, to agitate and strain the material, before it is taken into the conduit. Furthermore, the

scoop 12 is under the action of the same operating cables, moved to operative positions for carryingthe coarser material to the rear end of the barge to be deposited in the ditch in which the endless rake 25 is operated.

The rake carries the material rearwardly to clean the ditch.

It is thought that the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawing will enable persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates to obtain a clear understanding of the same. For this reason, a more lengthy description is deemed unnecessary. lVhile a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that minor changes coming within the scope of the adjoined claims may be resorted to, if desired.

We claim 1. A dredge of the class described, a suction pump, a collecting conduit in communication with said pump'and adapted to be submerged ina stream, agitating and screening means on the lower'end of said conduits, means for mounting said conduit to permit it to swing in a longitudinal arc, operating cables for swinging the conduit back and forth, and a scoop mounted on said conduit and acted on by said cables.

In a dredge of the class described, a suction pump, a conduit connected with said pump, a support for said pump and conduit, a screening and agitating device onthe lower end of said conduit including a slotted box like ground engaging element, a scoop pivot ally mounted upon said conduit, and operatin cables in association with the scoo deviceand conduit for operating the same.

In testimony whereof we allir; our slgnatures.

ROY R. DAILEY. LEROY voRHIEs. 

